This month theCommunity Development Programof theNoor Al Hussein Foundation (NHF)held its first "Math and Chess" competition for students in Northern Ghor on Wednesday, October 5th.

17 students, ages nine-to-fifteen participated in the competition, using the new "Math and Chess Program", which teaches young students math through chess. Chess is integrated into math worksheets and mathematical chess puzzles are created to let children explore the interrelation of chess and math. The competition included playing chess and problem solving.

"Math and Chess Program" supervisor Rana Abed, from theJubilee Center for Excellence in Education (JCEE), spent two hours instructing participants on the basics involved, before overseeing the actual competition itself.

The competition is part of a push byNHFand theJCEEto introduce the Math and Chess Program to students in underserved areas in Jordan as part of the Poverty Pockets Empowerment Program that is funded by the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation (MOPIC).

In addition to the competition held on October 5th, theJCEEhas already held three "Math and Chess Program" workshops for teachers in Mafraq, Um Al Qutain, and Mwaqar.

So far Abed says the response has been positive:

"We have to go to the people," said Abed, "we cannot stay in our offices and wait for them to come to us. I think our mission is to reach each school with this program that improves the students' thinking and problem-solving skills."

So far at least one teacher has expressed an interest to the Jubilee Institute in starting up a "Math and Chess Program" club at his school in Um Al Qutain.

Three additional Math and Chess contests are planned for the month of November in Mafraq, Qatrana, and Ein Al Basha.

Another training workshop for interested teachers is set to be held in December in Northern Ghor.